One dream nearly all Americans share is, after decades of hard work, to retire in comfort. But retiring with a nest egg large enough to last throughout your lifetime is becoming a greater challenge than ever.

Will you retire later than the average retirement age?

According to SmartAsset, a technology-based personal finance company that provides financial modeling software to help consumers make major financial decisions, the average retirement age as of October 2015 in the U.S. was 63 years. This is more or less on par with the traditional retirement range of 62 years to 65 years. SmartAsset came to this conclusion by analyzing U.S. Census Bureau labor force participation data for people between the ages of 40 and 80 from 2009 through 2013. Age 63 was the age at which half the population was determined to no longer be working.

While the average retirement age has been pretty static for decades, there are five good reasons why you could retire much later than age 63, especially if you’re a Millennial, a member of Generation X, or even a younger baby boomer.

1. Social Security isn’t on solid footing

One of the biggest challenges facing retirees is that the Social Security program isn’t in great shape over the long term. The program has reliably paid benefits to retired workers, the disabled, and survivors of deceased workers for more than 75 years, but the retirement of baby boomers is causing the number of beneficiaries to balloon. By 2035, the worker-to-beneficiary ratio is expected to fall to 2.1-to-1 from the 2.8-to-1 ratio of 2015. That means the payroll tax flowing into the system isn’t enough to cover the benefits being paid out.

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According to the Social Security and Medicare Board of Trustees Report from 2015, the Social Security Trust is expected to exhaust its cash reserves by 2034. The good news is that the program is not — I repeat, not — going bankrupt, so it will be there to provide you benefits, assuming you’ve earned the minimum of 40 lifetime work credits required to qualify. However, without any excess cash, Social Security will only be able to pay out benefits on a budget-neutral basis. This could mean a cut in benefits of up to 21%.

This benefit cut is a serious concern, as Gallup’s 2015 poll showed that 59% of retired seniors count on Social Security as a major source of income. A recent survey from the Insured Retirement Institute also showed that 59% of baby boomers were counting on Social Security to become a major source of income in retirement.

The Social Security Administration has noted previously that benefits are only designed to replace about 40% of a retired worker’s wages, meaning Americans need other sources of income if they’re to be on financially stable ground come retirement. This could mean working longer than originally expected in order to save more money.

2. Medical inflation is handily outpacing the CPI

A second reason you’ll probably choose to retire later than the current average of 63 years is the rising cost of medical care. With the exception of 2008, healthcare inflation has surpassed the Consumer Price Index in every year since 2005. Inflation rates for branded and specialty pharmaceuticals have been even especially high, regularly pushing into the high single digits on an annual basis. In plainer terms, American consumers will have to adjust their retirement savings to account for loftier medical expenses.

Most seniors eagerly await turning 65 so they can officially enroll in Medicare, which studies have shown to be cheaper than individual health plans offered by private insurers. However, a growing number of prescription medicines that are administered on an outpatient basis (for example, cancer immunotherapy injections) have six-digit annual costs. Given that outpatient services fall under Part B, seniors could be responsible for 20% of the total costs of these drugs. And remember: Medicare has no out-of-pocket annual limit.

One solution elderly Americans may consider is working longer so they can be covered by employer-sponsored health insurance. While Medicare is cheaper than individual private insurance health plans, an employer-sponsored plan could save seniors even more money, enticing them to work longer.

3. You’re not saving enough

The heart of the reason why consumers are working longer is their lack of savings. St. Louis Federal Reserve data from April 2016 shows that the U.S. personal savings rate is just 5.4%. This is higher than where we were before the Great Recession, but U.S. savers are still lagging other developed countries badly. It means Americans have to do even more with what little they’ve saved.

A recently released report from GOBankingRates shows that a frightening 1 in 3 Americans hasn’t put a single cent toward their retirement, and another 23% have less than $10,000 saved. Just 26% of those surveyed had $100,000 or more in retirement savings — and even that amount isn’t enough to provide financial security in retirement.

The main problem here is that consumers lack financial discipline. A Gallup poll from three years prior observed that only 32% of American households kept a detailed monthly budget. Without a budget, it’s difficult to have a full understanding of your cash flow. Therefore we’d all do well to use budgeting software to develop a plan for saving money on a regular basis.

Of course, there’s more to saving than just plugging numbers into spreadsheet. You need to have a specific and measurable plan that you can stick to, as well as support from like-minded people (preferably those within your household). It’s also a smart idea to have what you’ve saved transferred to a savings or investment account regularly so as to prevent it from being unwisely spent, as well as to keep you accountable for your spending habits.

4. You’re not investing wisely

Another reason many Americans will retire well after age 63 is that they’re making poor investing decisions.

Over the long term, the stock market has been proven to be a great source of wealth creation. Including dividend reinvestment, the stock market has gained an average of about 10% per year since the 1920s. As an example, if someone had purchased a fund tracking the S&P 500 index at the end of 1993 and held on for 20 years, through both the dot-com bubble burst and the Great Recession, they still would have netted a 483% return.

Despite the overwhelmingly favorable long-term data backing up the stock market, just 48% of Americans surveyed by Bankrate in 2015 said they had money invested in the stock market. It’s no surprise to see the American consumer flocking to the safety of CDs and bonds following the market meltdown eight years ago, but they may not realize that these investments aren’t even keeping up with inflation, which means they’re losing real buying power. Their CD might return 0.5%, but the inflation rate is 1.5% annually or higher, causing their long-term purchasing power to shrink.

In this instance, the solution would be to get back into the stock market. If you don’t feel comfortable buying individual stocks, consider buying exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which are baskets of funds that represent certain sectors, industries, growth rates, regions of the world, or even market caps. There really is something for everyone in the stock market.

5. People are living longer than ever

Finally, you’ll probably retire later than previous generations because you’re going to live longer. Improvements in health education, access to medical care, and pharmaceutical products have pushed the average life expectancy in the U.S. from roughly 70 years in the mid-1960s to nearly 79 years today, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is assumed that life expectancies will only continue to climb higher from here.

If you’re living longer, the you’ll need your nest egg to last longer, too. This means raising your retirement number and creating a withdrawal plan detailing how you’ll access your savings during retirement. Not having a withdrawal plan could be a critical mistake, because you might withdraw your money too quickly and exhaust your nest egg or wind up paying more than you expect in taxes come retirement because you didn’t take into account the federal and state tax implications of your withdrawals.

For example, single retirees who’ve filed for Social Security benefits and earn more than $25,000 annually would have at least half of their Social Security benefits exposed to federal taxes. For couples, the income threshold is $32,000 and higher.

Long story short, you’ll want to have a withdrawal plan firmly in place before retiring.

Are your ducks in a row, or you will you be retiring later than age 63? Share your thoughts below.

Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article.

Watching your weight, exercising regularly, clocking a good night’s sleep, keeping stress in check—what’s good for your body can also be good for your finances.

Whether you realize it or not, your health and healthy finances are linked in countless ways. A bad habit like smoking burns a hole in your budget every time you light up. Being overweight tends to inflate the cost of your health care—a growing burden as employers and insurers ask you to bear a bigger portion of your medical bills. And a poor night’s sleep can damage your career if it leaves you sluggish and unproductive at work. Stress, too, takes at real toll at the office. In this “Get Healthy, Get Wealthy” package, you’ll learn all the ways your health and your money intersect, as well as free and money-smart ways to get on track. Here’s how to live and feel better—and improve your financial health along the way.

—By Katherine Hobson, Ismat Sarah Mangla, and Elizabeth O’Brien

Ka-chingWhy Getting Off Your Bottom Is Good for Your Bottom Line–––––It makes your wallet fatter.read more

pump it upThe Financial Rewards of Working Out–––––Think of it as money calisthenics.read more

tip the scalesHere’s How Much You Can Save by Slimming Down–––––Find out what help is worth paying for.read more

Up in SmokeThe Habit That’s Costing You More Than $1 Million–––––Snuff it out to save big.read more

Liz Davidson, author of What Your Financial Advisor Isn’t Telling You, estimates that over the course of a career, you can leave as much as $1 million in employee benefits on the table. Two major areas in which employees shortchange themselves are 401(k) plans and health savings accounts. Most companies offer 401(k) plans for your retirement, and will match part of your contributions to the plan. In essence, your company is giving you money for your retirement. All you have to do is contribute a little of your paycheck every month to the 401(k).

Most employees also don’t take advantage of health savings accounts, which allow you to save and invest money tax-free to cover medical expenses.

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In the new age of high-deductible health insurance plans, smart planning can save you big bucks. You can’t predict health events, but by thinking ahead, you can make better use of your health care dollars when a significant illness occurs.

How do you prepare for an event? Some medical issues are an emergency, and some events can go on for a while without need for attention. Broken ankle—emergency. Bum knee that has been aching for a year—annoying, but you don’t need to see the doctor the minute you become annoyed. By approaching your medical care in a thoughtful manner, you may be able to bunch expenses into one year, thus needing to meet only one large deductible.

Let me share an example. I recently developed allergic reactions to certain foods. The initial serious reaction was financially a minor emergency—not close to meeting my deductible. However, I would need expensive allergy testing to figure out some of the offending foods causing my lips to swell and itching of my head and neck. Meanwhile, my husband had noticed some spots on his skin he was concerned about. And his bad knee from high school pole-vaulting days was giving him a fit.

What did we do? I ate only foods I knew for certain were safe, and decided to delay the testing to my new plan year. My husband also delayed getting treatment for his skin concerns and his knee. Between the testing for my allergies, the removal of his pre-cancerous skin lesions, and the MRI for his knee, we will hit our deductibles early in the year. If something serious happens the rest of the year, we won’t have to worry about the cost. And if we have something less serious bugging us during the year, we’ll take care of it promptly.

One important consideration to keep in mind: Do not wait until the end of the year to take care of mundane issues. The holidays create a natural slow-down of the health care system, and you may not be able to get an appointment. Also, if you need further testing that must be approved by your health insurer, remember that the company plays the game too. It may not approve your referral until the new plan year. So start early and try to complete everything by November.

One final medical event to consider is pregnancy. It can’t always be planned, but if you are starting a family, work hard at it between November and February. This way, the bulk of the pregnancy, delivery, and initial baby care will all occur in one plan year.

Maybe one day we’ll have a health care system where we don’t have to play these games. Until that time, be a smart consumer and plan wisely for your healthcare needs.

———-

Carolyn McClanahan is a physician, financial planner, and founder of Life Planning Partners. In addition to running her financial planning practice, she educates financial planners, health care professionals, and the public on the intersections of health and personal finance.

Whether you finally found a physician with great bedside manner who your kids trust (or at least tolerate) or you see a top-notch specialist for a serious health issue, it can be a heart-sinking moment when your doctor’s office informs you that they’ll no longer be participating in your health insurance plan.

“Networks are becoming narrower each year as part of cost containment,” says Bruce Elliott, manager of compensation and benefits at the Society for Human Resource Management. “In addition, we are seeing physicians leave insurance networks to strike out on their own.”

Staying with the doctor you love can mean a separate (and higher) deductible, steeper co-pays or co-insurance, and a higher out-of-pocket maximum—and that assumes your plan allows you to go out of network. If you’re in an HMO that doesn’t have a POS (point of service) option, visits to your out-of-network doctor might not be covered at all.

What’s more, you could lose out on free preventive care. Even though the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, mandated that routine physicals and certain screening tests be 100% free, that rule applies only if you stay in network.

Elliott and other experts say you have a few options if your top doc pulls up stakes. Take a deep breath and make the following moves.

If you want to stay with your doctor…

Ask for a break if you’re picking up the tab. “If your current doctor is someone that you absolutely can’t do without, talk to that doctor directly about your situation and ask if they would consider providing you a discount if you paid out of pocket,” says Ian Siegel, CEO and co-founder of recruiting and benefits technology company ZipRecruiter.

Pay with pre-tax dollars. “Calculate how much you’ve spent at your doctor’s office over the last year and set up a flexible spending account to cover the out-of-network fees for the next year,” Elliott advises. Even though you’ll be paying out of pocket, you’ll be able to pay the first $2,550 with pre-tax dollars if you set up an FSA ($2,550 is the annual maximum you’re allowed to contribute for 2015; the IRS usually ticks it up according to inflation, so the current low inflation makes it likely that the amount will remain the same for next year.) “You’ll be paying the fees with money that has not been taxed, saving you approximately 20% to 35% depending on your income tax bracket,” he says.

Switch health plans. “If the doctor-patient relationship is important to the patient, they should choose a plan that includes that doctor in-network,” says Hector De La Torre, executive director of Transamerica Center for Health Studies. But keep in mind that even though this will cut down on out-of-network paperwork and lower your out-of-pocket costs, this is a big change that is likely to affect your premiums, deductible, and your relationship with any other medical professionals your family visits.

If you decide to switch doctors…

Ask for a referral immediately. If you just can’t afford to switch plans or pay out of network (a likely scenario for many families), ask your current provider for a referral as soon as possible. “If someone knows that their doctor will be leaving a network, sooner is always better than later,” Elliott says. “Practices with good reputations fill up quickly, especially in narrow networks.” When you contact the new practice, make sure it accepts your insurance.

Make sure both docs are on the same page. “Ask your current provider to communicate with your new provider to help coordinate care during the transition,” says Danielle Hartigan, assistant professor of natural and applied sciences at Bentley University. Continuity of care is important for the best medical outcomes, she says, so it will benefit you to be proactive about coordinating the transfer. “Also, make sure to transfer your medical records,” Hartigan says. Since a growing number of practices use electronic records, your new doctor might be able to access your records with just a few clicks.

Check your coverage for the new doc’s affiliations. “Be sure to check not only that the doctor you find is in network for your new plan, but also that the hospital that doctor is affiliated with for any procedures or hospital stays is in network as well,” Siegel advises.

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While you might have known that marital assets are separated during divorce, did you know that debts are as well? Yes, debt, just like any other possession, has to be divvied up and re-distributed during divorce. Unfortunately, this can make an already difficult process even more stressful. However, understanding how your debts might be split before entering your proceedings could help you better plan for your new life and give you peace of mind. Here is an easy-to-understand breakdown of what happens to your debt during a divorce.

Credit Card Debt

The responsibility of credit card debt during divorce tends to be decided by whether or not the credit card was under a joint or single account. While the rules on joint accounts vary from state to state, most cases consider marital debt to be any debt accumulated during the partnership, regardless of whose name appears on the account. This means you’ll most likely be considered partially responsible for debt on the account, whether or not you were the one to make the payment. Separate accounts, however, are just that — separate. Whomever’s name appears on the account will, more often than not, be awarded full responsibility.

Mortgage

Here’s where things get a little complicated. The division of a mortgage isn’t as straightforward as credit card debt during divorce. Because a mortgage is typically such a monumental expense, most states offer a variety of options for dealing with the situation. Ownership of the mortgage will typically be awarded to someone who makes significantly more than their former spouse or has been awarded full custody of the former couple’s children. In either of these situations, one party will be required to buy out the other’s equity in the house. Of course, the couple can decide to bypass all of these decisions and simply sell the home if they so choose.

Medical Expenses

Depending upon where you live, your state might have a different view on whether or not you and your former spouse share medical debts. “Community Property” states (Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin) all debt will typically be divided amongst all parties. While this might greatly simplify the process, it leaves you open to taking on debt that you had no part in acquiring. In “equal division property” states however, the court will take a variety of factors into consideration when determining the responsibility of medical debt. This will usually include whether or not you and your spouse were living together at the time the debt was acquired, whether or not you were legally separated at the time, whether or not the debt falls under the umbrella of “necessary care,” and what impact that debt might have on any children you and your former spouse might have had.

While divorce is far from an easy process, knowing how it might affect your financial situation can really help you reduce the stress and handle other expenses it brings. Take the time to sit down and look through all your financial documents: bills, credit statements, loan papers, etc. Pull your free annual credit reports to see what accounts are reported in your name, and periodically revisit them to watch for important changes. Creating a financial snapshot can help your and your attorneys determine the best course of action for you and your family.

It’s time for health insurance plans to take a page out of 401(k) playbooks. People need simpler choices, as well as guidance that will nudge them toward the best plan for their needs.

That’s what 401(k)s are designed to do—though it took years for plans to evolve. As the traditional employer-managed defined benefit pension began to disappear, the early generations of 401(k)s and other defined contribution plans presented workers with new and complicated sets of investment choices.

Employees were so overwhelmed that many did nothing, leading Congress to pass reform laws to simplify 401(k) decisions, including providing default plan choices and using auto-enrollment—putting employees into plans unless they opt out. Today many employers are going a step further by turning 401(k)s into pension-like plans, removing the need for decisions unless workers choose to make them.

But health insurance is still stuck in an old-school 401(k) world. Obamacare exchanges have created extensive menus of plan choices that many consumers don’t understand. The exchange concept has also become popular among employer plans for both current workers and retirees. Exchange providers, led by big employee-benefits firms, are signing up lots of health insurers to offer employers and their workers extensive sets of plan choices.

The confusion extends to Medicare, as consumers are often required to choose among 30, 40 or more Medicare Advantage plans or Part D prescription drug plans. They are simply overmatched by the task, research shows.

As with 401(k)s, the primary problem consumers face with health insurance choices is that they don’t understand how the policies work, studies show. Nor do they understand the industry jargon—in the case of health insurance, that may mean even basic terms like deductibles and co-payments.

Consider this alarming study: A Fortune 100 company offered 48 new health insurance plans to more than 50,000 employees. All of the plans were offered by the same health insurer and offered identical coverage. They differed only by premiums, deductibles and other cost-sharing variables.

In roughly 80% of their selections, workers made bad decisions—opting for the low-deductible but high-premium plans that cost them more money yet provided no additional insurance protection. Lower-income and female employees made particularly bad choices.

The amounts of wasted money often equaled 40% or more of the employee’s annual premium expenses. Employees who chose low-deductible plans paid $631 more on average in premiums, but saved only $259 a year in out-of-pocket costs compared with available higher-deductible plans.

Even more discouraging, when researchers went back and told employees about their mistakes, it had very little effect. More than 70% of employees did not understand insurance well enough to make an informed choice. Further, it had never occurred to the workers that their employer would include lousy choices in its plan offerings, the researchers found.

Improving insurance literacy is crucial in helping employees understand how to make better choices. But as behavioral research with 401(k)s has shown, the most effective solution is to reduce the number of plan choices and their complexity.

“The promise of recent reforms that expand choice and aim to increase provider competition is premised on the assumption—challenged by our research—that enrollees will make sensible plan choices,” the researchers concluded.

So how can you be a better health care consumer? Justin Sydnor, one of the researchers and an economist at the University of Wisconsin business school, suggests the dreaded school math-class crucible: the story problem. First consider how much you expect to spend on health care. Then calculate whether your total payments would be higher with a low-deductible plan or a high-deductible plan. Asking people to compare premiums with out-of-pocket expenses helped set his research subjects on the right course.

If you’re not sure how to estimate your future health care spending (and that’s true for most people), run several calculations based on varying medical costs, Syndor says. For example, what would your out-of-pocket costs be if your health expenses were, say, $2,000 or $5,000 or $10,000 over the next year? You also can seek help from their employer’s health plan administrator or from the free counseling available for Obamacare and Medicare enrollees.

Sign up for Medicare at 65 even if you’re not in the U.S. While Medicare won’t pay for care outside the country, many retirees living abroad schedule doctor visits when they visit home. Plus, if you later return for good and haven’t enrolled, you’ll pay a 10% premium penalty on Part B (the medical insurance portion) for every year you were eligible, says AARP’s Patricia Barry, author of Medicare for Dummies. For 2015, the B premium is $104.90 a month for a married person with modified AGI under $170,000.

Determine your needs. Many nations have two systems: public and private. You’ll probably prefer the convenience and facilities of the latter. Medical costs are lower in most other countries, even in the private system, but unless you can pay out of pocket, you’ll want insurance. Plan to stay put in your new country? You’ll be fine with a policy covering local doctors and hospitals. If you’ll travel, get an international expatriate policy.

Price private policies. Major insurers that offer international private policies include Aetna International, Cigna Global, Bupa Global, and GeoBlue. Members of the Association of Americans Resident Abroad (aaro.org) are eligible for a group plan—in 2015, a couple in their sixties will pay $500 or so a month for hospitalization coverage. Keep in mind that even group private policies require underwriting, so if you have a preexisting condition, you might have a waiting period and a higher premium. Also, some plans stop at age 75 or 85, though that may work if you’ll move back to the U.S.

How would you like a triple-tax-free way to save for certain retirement expenses?

No, this isn’t the latest Nigerian email scam. Rather, it’s the very real advantage of a Health Savings Account (HSA), an investment vehicle available to those with qualifying high-deductible health insurance plans.

The pretax money you put in is meant to be used for that year’s unreimbursed health costs, but unspent funds can be rolled forward to grow tax-deferred and withdrawn tax-free at any later date to pay for health care.

After 65, you can also tap the account for nonmedical expenses without penalty; those withdrawals will be taxed as income just like a traditional IRA.

Considering that a 65-year-old couple leaving the workforce today can expect to spend $220,000 on health care, as Fidelity reports, it’s no wonder HSAs are gaining traction as a retirement savings tool. “They’re the best deal in town,” says Scottsdale, Ariz., financial planner Dana Anspach, author of Control Your Retirement Destiny.

Of course, the HSA works as a retirement account only if you can sock away more than you need for this year’s medical costs. Therein lies the challenge. Here’s how to ensure an HSA will offer you a healthier retirement.

Make sure you’ll benefit

Premiums on HSA-eligible health plans are less expensive than those of lower-deductible plans, but you could spend more overall depending on your health. That’s because of the deductible. In 2013, this must be at least $1,250 for individuals and $2,500 for families.

The HSA is meant to help you save for this and other out-of-pocket costs; in 2013, individuals can stash $3,250, families, $6,450. Those 55-plus can add another $1,000. Also, 72% of employers contribute—an average $920 for singles, $1,600 for families, Kaiser Family Foundation reports. Assuming you’re covered through work, your employer will pick a default custodian for the account.

To end up with a balance at retirement, you’d need to let some of the money in the HSA ride each year. The more you pay in, the better your odds of having leftover funds. Being healthy helps too. (Use the tool at WageWorks to compare an HDHP/HSA with other insurance plans, based on last year’s usage.) Medical needs are unpredictable, though, so also consider how you handle costs when they come up.

Jacksonville financial planner and MD Carolyn McClanahan says you’re more likely to have money to spare if you know how to work the health care system—e.g., comparing prices and asking for generic meds.

Fill the right buckets

Most HSA users tap their accounts for immediate health care costs, allowing what’s left to roll forward. To really grow the HSA, however, you could dedicate it to retirement by paying health costs with other savings. “This makes sense for those who have spare cash flow,” says Coral Gables, Fla., financial planner Joshua Mungavin.

Wherever you store the money, aim to set aside at least two times the deductible for current bills, says Anspach. Beyond that, how does an HSA fit into the hierarchy of retirement accounts? Though it has the best tax benefits, it isn’t as flexible as a 401(k) or IRA. Prior to 65, you pay a 20% penalty on nonqualified withdrawals, for example. So fund your 401(k) up to any match, then split your remaining money among a Roth IRA, 401(k), and HSA.

Invest for now and later

Keep money earmarked for today’s health care in cash. (Some custodians require you to maintain a cash balance anyway—typically $1,000 to $2,500—before you can invest.) The rest of the HSA can be allocated as you would your other retirement dollars, says Mungavin.

Mutual fund choices tend to be limited though, notes Roy Ramthun, president of HSA Consulting Services. Some custodians offer less than 20.

No good ones in your employer’s offering? Roll it over to another custodian; compare options at HSASearch.com. You should be able to find investments you like.

HSA Bank, for example, offers a full brokerage via TD Ameritrade, while Health Savings Administrators lets you pick from 22 low-cost Vanguard funds. Examine account fees, too, as charges for banking services and account maintenance are common. You don’t want to avoid the drag of taxes only to have your balance pulled down by fees.